Voice-based transaction terminal ordering

ABSTRACT

A consumer is identified at a transaction terminal. A natural-language voice chatbot is initiated for the transaction. The chatbot is configured with store information for a store associated with the terminal and, optionally, with preferences registered to the consumer. A natural language voice dialogue using, at least the store information, is initiated between the chatbot and the consumer while the consumer is at the terminal and during the transaction. The consumer may order store items from the store and pay for the items through the dialogue. In an embodiment, the items ordered are delivered to the terminal where the consumer is located.

BACKGROUND

Technology is substantially integrated into businesses and the everydaylife of consumers. Businesses have added technology support to transactwith their consumers over a variety of communication channels, some ofwhich include consumer-operated devices.

In some environments even with existing technology item ordering, anditem pickup can be problematic and inconvenient for the consumer. Forexample, when a consumer is purchasing fuel at a fuel pump of aconvenience store, the user interface of the pump is typically small,hard to see at different times of the day, and usually has worn outentry keys or touchscreen displays. Furthermore, the consumer may haveno idea as to what is available for purchase within the store beyondwhat is being actively advertised at the pump. The pump interfacesusually do not provide a complete item inventory or provide a searchingmechanism for identifying a specific item. In fact, there is typically alimited list of items available within the store that the consumer canpre-purchase at the pump interface.

Moreover, although the consumer may be able to make a purchase from theless-than ideal user interface for a specific set of limited items, theconsumer still must leave the pump to obtain the items from inside thestore. This leaves the pump lane occupied while the consumer ispurchasing something inside the store with the consumer's vehicle,thereby preventing other customers from accessing the consumer's pumplane. It is also extremely inconvenient for the consumer to move thevehicle to a new location on the premises for purposes of picking up apre-purchased item or for purposes of browsing the store and purchasingitems within the store. Convenience store lots are usually not veryspacious, and maneuvering is difficult, particularly when the store andpumps are busy.

Consequently, it is not surprising that research has revealed thatconsumers willing or desiring to make convenience store purchases oftendo not make purchases while refueling their vehicles. Business estimatethat a substantial amount of lost sales occurs when consumers arerefueling, because it appears more likely that convenience storepurchasers are consumers that come into the store to purchase specificsnacks, drinks, lottery tickets, and the like without also purchasingfuel.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, methods and a system for voice-based transactionterminal order processing are provided.

According to an embodiment, a method for voice-based transactionterminal order processing is presented. A user is identified at aterminal and information associated with the terminal is obtained. Anatural language voice dialogue is initiated with the user while theuser is located at the terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for voice-based transaction terminalorder processing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of processing associated with voice-basedtransaction terminal order processing, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a method for voice-based transaction terminalorder processing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another method for voice-based transactionterminal order processing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of another system for voice-based transactionterminal order processing, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system 100 for voice-based transaction terminalorder processing, according to an example embodiment. It is to be notedthat the components are shown schematically in greatly simplified form,with only those components relevant to understanding of the embodimentsbeing illustrated.

Furthermore, the various components (that are identified in the FIG. 1)are illustrated and the arrangement of the components is presented forpurposes of illustration only. It is to be noted that other arrangementswith more or with less components are possible without departing fromthe teachings of voice-based transaction terminal order processing,presented herein and below.

As used herein and below, the terms “user,” “consumer,” “user,” and“customer” may be used interchangeably and synonymously. The terms referto an individual placing an order at a transaction terminal.

System 100 includes a plurality of processing devices and device types110-150. The system 100 includes transaction terminals 110, a server120, cameras 130, user operated devices 140, and fulfilment terminals150. Server 120 includes executable instructions that execute on one ormore hardware processors 121 of server 120 from a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium 122 as: a transaction terminal chatbot123, transaction manager 124, loyalty manager 125, promotion engine 126,and fulfilment manager 127.

It is to be noted that there may be multiple servers 120, such that thedifferent elements 123-126 may execute on a same server 120 or multipledifferent servers 120 networked together. Furthermore, the server 120may be a Local Area Network (LAN)-based server 120 or a Wide-AreaNetwork (WAN)-based server 120.

In an embodiment, the server 120 is part of a cloud-processingenvironment that includes a plurality of servers logically cooperatingof a network as a single accessible server 120.

Transaction terminals 110 include processors and non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media having executable instructions that whenexecuted by the processor provide transaction interfaces 111.

User devices 140 include processors and non-transitory computer-readablestorage media having executable instructions that when executed by theprocessor provide mobile applications (apps) 141.

Fulfilment terminals 150 include processors and non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media having executable instructions that whenexecuted by the processor provide fulfilment interfaces 151.

The components of the system 120 permit customer-based personalizednatural language voice ordering while a is customer at a transactionterminal 110. The natural language voice session/dialogue is performedby the transaction terminal chatbot 123 (hereinafter just “chatbot 123”)through interaction with voice input provided by the customer through aspeaker associated with the transaction terminal 110 or an integratedspeaker of a consumer-operated device 140.

The order processing is provided as a natural-language voicesession/dialogue between the customer and the chatbot 123 and thesession can be initiated without any request being first made by thecustomer as soon as the customer initiates a transaction at terminal 110or as soon as a customer is identified as being present at terminal 110.Additionally, the order session can be initiated based on a request or avoice-based question made by the customer while at the terminal 110.

The voice session/dialogue permits the customer to perform voice-basedsearches to discover items or services available at a store associatedwith terminal 110. Moreover, the voice session/dialogue permits thecustomer to: perform age-based verification when certain desired itemsare age-restricted (using cameras, card readers, or other peripheraldevices associated with terminal 110), perform loyalty operations, andperform payment processing for any ordered items. Additionally, duringthe voice session/dialogue, the customer may request and receive fromchatbot 123 information and guidance relevant to the customer's currentlocation.

Chatbot 123 performs voice-to-text transaction of voice input receivedfrom the customer during the voice dialogue at terminal 110. The text isthen processed to perform order processing for items or servicesavailable at a store associated with terminal 110. The text drivesactions and causes chatbot 123 to interact with: transaction manager 124for transaction processing, loyalty manager 125 for loyalty-basedprocessing, promotion engine 126 for promotion processing, andfulfilment manager 127 for order fulfilment processing. Results orfeedback from processing actions/operations with modules 124-127 aretranslated from text to speech (text-to-speech) and provided as audioduring the voice dialogue to the customer over a speaker associated withterminal 110 or a speaker integrated into user device 140.

Transaction manager 124 may also interact with transaction interfaces111 to update displayed information presented on displays of terminals110 based on operations requested and driven by chatbot 123 during thevoice dialogue. Similarly, fulfilment manager 127 may interact withfulfilment interfaces 151 to updated displayed information presented ondisplays of fulfilment terminals 150.

In some embodiments, chatbot 123 includes Application ProgrammingInterfaces (APIs) that permit direct interaction with transactioninterfaces 111 and fulfilment interfaces 151 independent of transactionmanager 124 and fulfilment manager 127.

Chatbot 123 parses voice input supplied by the customer through amicrophone of terminal 110, an integrated microphone of user device 140,and/or a microphone situated in proximity to but not entirely integratedwithin terminal 110. The audio is converted to text to identify anintention of the customer and identify actions/operations associatedwith 124-127. APIs of chatbot 123 then communicate theactions/operations to the appropriate modules 124-127. Results from theactions/operations are returned through the APIs as text. The text isthen converted to natural language speech as audio and played over oneor more of: a speaker integrated into terminal 110, a speaker integratedinto user device 140, a headset wirelessly connected to user device 140,and a speaker that is no integrated into terminal 110 but is inproximity to terminal 110. Additionally, displayed informationassociated with the results from the actions/operations may be updatedon display of terminal 110 through interfaces 111 by either chatbot 123and/or transaction manager 124. So, a context associated with the voicedialogue may be maintained visually on a display during the voicedialogue. Spoken voice input may also be converted to text and displayedon any of the above-mentioned displays as feedback to the customer (sothe customer can see when the customer's speech was incorrectlyconverted to text by chatbot 123).

The customer can be initially engaged in a variety of different mannersfor the voice dialogue with chatbot 123. For example, transactionmanager 124 (upon receiving notice that a customer has been identifiedfrom interfaces 111 as initiating a transaction at term inal 110) mayengage chatbot 123 and provide any information already known about thatcustomer to chatbot 123. For example, a payment or loyalty card of thecustomer may have been inserted to a card reader of terminal 110 orwirelessly read by a contactless card reader of terminal 110.Transaction manager 124 may provide such information along with aterminal identifier for the terminal 110 to chatbot 123. In anothercase, a sensor (motion, image, audio) may be used to activate a cameraintegrated into or proximate to terminal 110. Chatbot 123 is notified ofa presence of a customer and may utilize the images to perform facialrecognition on the customer (assuming the customer has previouslyregistered and authorized this). Similarly, a microphone may pick upspeech of the customer at terminal 110 and perform voice printrecognition on the customer (again assuming the customer has previouslyregistered a voice print and authorized this). Transaction manager 124may also report when an unknown customer has started a transaction atterminal 110, such as insertion of or reading of a card, pressing a keyon terminal 110 (interfaces 111 report such activity to transactionmanager 124 for purposes of begging a transaction). The customer mayhave previously registered for use of chatbot 123 and may have provideda wake-up word to a microphone integrated into or proximate to terminal110, which causes chatbot 123 to initiate the dialogue.

As evidenced above, a voice dialogue may be initiated by either chatbot123 or the customer and at the start or beginning of the dialogue (afterinitiation), the customer may be known to chatbot 123 or may be unknownto chatbot 123. That is, a known customer is one for which chatbot 123has enough information to access a loyalty account associated with thatcustomer and unique identify a customer identity for the customer,whereas an unknown customer is one for which the chatbot 123 does nothave enough information to uniquely identify a customer identity and/oridentify a known loyalty account for the customer. If a known customeris engaged in the dialogue with chatbot 123, then loyalty manager 125 isaccessed and registered customer preferences are obtained and configuredinto the dialogue by chatbot 123 (this may also include a knowntransaction history for the customer). If an unknown customer is engagedin the dialogue with chatbot 123, then chatbot 123 may, as an initialpart of the dialogue, ask (through natural language speech) whether theunknown customer is registered and is willing to provide loyaltyinformation or whether the unknown customer want to register for aloyalty account through the voice dialogue. This can be done throughinteraction between chatbot 123 and loyalty manager 125.

It is to be noted that a customer does not have to register with aloyalty account to engage in the dialogue and order processing withchatbot 123. In such a case, the dialogue proceeds with the customerremaining anonymous to chatbot 123. However, when the customer includesa loyalty account and/or registers for a loyalty account a variety ofpersonalization features are available to the customer during the orderprocessing through chatbot 123.

Chatbot 123 after initiating the dialogue and identifying the customer(either as known and linked to a loyalty account, new and agreed tocreate a loyalty account, or unknown and proceeding anonymously), usesnatural language speech to take a customer order for goods or servicesassociated with the store. Any goods/products that require preparationcan be sent to fulfilment personal through fulfilment interfaces 151(such as food preparation). Fulfilment interfaces 151 may provide backan estimated time that the goods will be available to the customer basedon the current load of the fulfilment personnel. Chatbot 123communicates this through natural language to the customer during thedialogue. If a wait is unacceptable to the customer, the customer usesvoice to change the order or cancel the order. Fulfilment terminals 150may be mobile device carried by fulfilment personnel within the store,these mobile devices may be phones or tablets and the personnel may beitem pickers that go through the store or stocking area of the store andpick ordered items desired by the customer. A transaction identifier forthe customer transaction accompanies the items. The items are thendelivered to a staging area where other fulfilment personnel deliver theitems directly to the customer at the terminal 110 and/or apredesignated area associated with pickup at the store.

Chatbot 123 may also use natural language to perform item searching instore item inventory to inform the customer whether desired items areavailable in the existing inventory of the store. Chatbot 123 mayprovide an alternative item for any item desired that is unavailable inthe inventory but determined to be equivalent to the desired item whenthe alternative item is determined to be in store inventory.

Chatbot 123 may also perform payment processing for the ordered items.This can be done in a variety of manners through integration withinterfaces 111 and transaction manager 124. Assuming the customer hasalready provided a payment card at terminal 110, such as when terminal110 is a fuel pump and the customer is fueling a vehicle where thepayment card is needed to activate the pump, the amount of the purchaseditems may be added to the already provided payment card (assuming thetotal price of the fuel and the items purchased do not exceed the holdamount placed on the card when provided by the card provider), theamount associated with the purchased items may be processed through aregistered payment method associated with a loyalty account of thecustomer (assuming this is a registered customer), or the amountassociated with the purchased items may be placed on the previouslypresented card used to purchase the fuel by chatbot 123 asking throughvoice that the customer re-provided the card for payment of the itemsseparate from the purchase of fuel.

Additionally, in some instances purchased items may necessitate bygovernment regulation that the age of the customer be verified (such aswhen purchasing lottery tickets, alcohol, and tobacco products). In suchcases, chatbot 123 may perform such verification in a variety ofmanners. For instance, chatbot 123 may ask the customer to present agovernment issued photo identification card to a camera integrated intoterminal 110, a camera in proximity to terminal 110, or through anintegrated camera of customer device 140 through mobile app 141. Thenecessary information to verify the age of the customer is thenextracted from an image taken of the photo identification card andretailed by transaction manager 124 for any necessary governmentalcompliance.

Also, chatbot 123 may provide and redeem promotions during the dialogueby interaction through an API with promotion engine 126 and verballyinforming the customer of promotions associated with the store or itemsof the store (which may or may not be related to items ordered by thecustomer during the dialogue).

Still further, chatbot 123 may provide other non-store related andnon-order related services during the dialogue, such as directions to arestaurant near terminal 110, weather forecast, sport scores, stockprices, points-of-interest nearby terminal 110, and other services.

In an embodiment, chatbot 123 may dynamically move the voice and displaybased feedback from terminal 110 to customer-operated device 140 uponrequest of the customer or based on preferences of the customer obtainedfrom the loyalty account. Interaction, between customer and chatbot 123proceeds through device 140. In an embodiment, the dialogue can beswitched back and forth between terminal 110 and device 140 multipletimes during the dialogue upon voice requests of the customer.

In an embodiment, transaction terminal 110 is a Self-Service Terminal(SST), an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), a kiosk, or a Fuel Pump.

In an embodiment, the preferences are used to customize the dialogue.The preferences are obtained from the loyalty account of the customerand the preferences may also be changed by the customer during thedialogue upon customer voice instructions made to chatbot 123. Thepreferences include, by way of example only, preferred spoken languageof the customer, preferred payment method of the customer, preferredproducts of the customer, preferred price ranges for any of thepreferred products, notifications that are to be provided when a productis available in inventory of a given store or falls below a customer-setprice, preferred updates on news/sports scores/sports teams, preferredinteraction device (terminal 110 or device 140), preferred method ofreceiving receipts (printed at terminal 110, emailed, texted, etc.),preferred restaurants, preferred foods, and others.

In an embodiment, user device 140 is a phone, a tablet, or a laptop, awearable processing device, a portable Internet-of-Things (loTs) devicecarried in a vehicle of the customer, or a device integrated into thevehicle of the customer.

In an embodiment, fulfilment terminals 150 are desktop computers, laptopcomputers, Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminals, tablets, phones, or wearableprocessing devices.

In an embodiment, the dialogue may be transcribed into text and sent asa text or email to the customer when the session ends, upon request ofthe customer.

In an embodiment, the chatbot 123 includes a trained machine-learningalgorithm that is continuously learning and improving its spokencapabilities and accuracy for order processing.

In an embodiment, metrics are retained for the transaction and thedialogue for purposes of reporting and evaluating accuracy of markingcampaigns, promotions, etc.

There are several variations on how the system 100 can operate, some ofwhich are discussed above and some of which are more completelydiscussed below with the other FIGS. 2-5.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of processing associated with voice-basedtransaction terminal order processing of system 100, according to anexample embodiment.

At 210, the consumer initiates a transaction at a fuel pump 110 (oneexample type of transaction terminal 110) and chatbot 123 is initiatedfor a voice dialogue with the consumer. Alternatively, at 220, thepresence of the consumer is detected at pump 110 (such as through any ofthe above-mentioned techniques) and chatbot 123 is initiated. Stillfurther, at 230, chatbot 123 is engaged automatically upon the consumerentering loyalty information and/or providing a loyalty card for readingat pump 110.

Once engaged, at 211, data inputs for configuring the dialogue areobtained such as consumer data 211 (loyalty based information includingpreferences), camera images of the consumer while at the pump capturedby cameras 130 integrated into or proximate to pump 110 (store videoanalytics 212), current store marketing and specials 213, currentmarking and promotions available at the store 214, and store inventorymanagement information 215.

The information 211-215 is then used as a knowledge store for thecurrent consumer during the dialogue and a conversation tree is formedfrom that knowledge store at 240. The consumer is then engaged, at 241,the dialogue can include discussion relevant to loyalty specials, sales,tests, personalized and localized insights, and product inventory at thestore.

During the dialogue, the consumer order is taken and once taken theorder is verified at 242 (this can be both through speech and through adisplay associated with pump 110 or user device 140). Any purchasedproducts requiring age verification are determined at 243. Storerequirements and local governmental regulations may drive whether theage verification can be done through chatbot 123 or are required to beperformed in the store at 246. When store and governmental rules permit,the consumer can be verified through the pump at 244 or through themobile app 141 on user device 140 (such as through the presentation of agovernment-issued photo identification card that a camera captures animage for, as discussed above).

At 250, any ordered items are routed by chatbot 123 to fulfilmentterminals 150, at 250.

During the dialogue and after the order is completely confirmed, chatbot123 may verbally engage the consumer for loyalty based upselling itemsor loyalty-based perks available to the consumer, at 260. When theconsumer is not registered for loyalty a specialized voice loyaltychatbot may be initiated by chatbot 123, at 261 to register the consumerwith a loyalty account assuming the consumer desired the loyalty upsellor perks at 260 and lacks an existing loyalty account. The specializedloyalty chatbot then registered the consumer for a new loyalty accountgathering through voice and/or images taken of payment andidentification cards.

At 270, food items or non-food items that were ordered are placed in astaging and pickup area of the store.

At 271, a runner (store personnel) may, optionally, deliver the ordereditems to the consumer at the pump one retrieved from the staging area.

At 280, data analytics for store and marketing/promotions presented,rejected, and/or accepted during the dialogue by chatbot 123 arecaptured and stored for evaluation of successes and for reporting.

These and other embodiments are now discussed with reference to theFIGS. 3-4.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a method 300 for voice-based transaction terminalorder processing, according to an example embodiment. The softwaremodule(s) that implements the method 300 is referred to as an “orderchatbot.” The order chatbot is implemented as executable instructionsprogrammed and residing within memory and/or a non-transitorycomputer-readable (processor-readable) storage medium and executed byone or more processors of a device. The processor(s) of the device thatexecutes the order chatbot are specifically configured and programmed toprocess the order chatbot. The order chatbot may have access to one ormore network connections during its processing. The network connectionscan be wired, wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the order chatbot is theserver 120. In an embodiment, the server 120 is a cloud-based processingenvironment comprising a collection of physical servers cooperating as asingle logical server. In an embodiment, the server 120 is a Local-AreaNetwork (LAN)-based server or a Wide-Area Network (WAN)-based server.

In an embodiment, the order chatbot is all or some combination of thechatbot 123, the transaction manager 124, the loyalty manager 125, thepromotion engine 126, and/or fulfilment manager 127.

At 310, the order chatbot identifies a user at a terminal. This can beachieved in any of the manners discussed above with the FIGS. 1-2.

For example, and in an embodiment, at 311, the order chatbot identifiesthe user when the user initiates a transaction on the terminal, such aswhen the user presents a contact-based or contactless payment card toinitiate a transaction with a terminal that is a fuel pump terminal.

As another example, at 312, the order chatbot identifies the user basedon loyalty information provided by the user to the terminal. This can bethrough entry of user information on an interface of the terminal,presentation of a loyalty card for reading by a card reader of theterminal, or presentation of the loyalty card to a camera integratedinto or proximate to the terminal that snaps an image of the card andperforms image processing to obtain a user loyalty account number fromthe card image.

In still another example, at 313, the order chatbot identifies the userbased on detecting a presence of the user at the terminal. This can bedone through cameras, microphones, and/or motion sensors associated withthe terminal.

In an embodiment, at 314, the order chatbot obtains dialogue preferencesfrom a registered account associated with the user. The preferences canbe any of the above-mentioned preferences with the FIGS. 1-2.

At 320, the order chatbot obtains information associated with thetransaction terminal.

In an embodiment of 314 and 320, at 321, the order chatbot obtains theinformation as: item inventory associated with a store where theterminal is located, promotions associated with the item inventory, andimages of the user captured by cameras proximate to or integrated withinthe terminal as integrated peripheral devices. In an embodiment, theimages of the user are imaged process to identify facial features of theuser during the transaction and the facial features are mapped toactions or responses made by the order chatbot to the user during thetransaction.

At 330, the order chatbot initiates a natural language voice dialoguewith the user while the user is located at the terminal.

In an embodiment of 321 and 330, at 331, the order chatbot uses thepreferences of the user and the information as a localized andpersonalized knowledge store during the natural language voice dialogue.

In an embodiment of 331 and at 332, the order chatbot takes an order forone or more items that are available at the store based on the iteminventory during the natural language voice dialogue from the user. Theorder chatbot sends order information associated with the order to afulfilment service 151 for order fulfilment at the store.

In an embodiment of 332 and at 333, the order chatbot performs age-basedverification on the user utilizing an image taken of: a photoidentification card presented by the user to a camera that is proximateto the terminal, integrated into the terminal, or integrated into auser-operated mobile device 140; or 2) a photo of the user that isprocessed to determine whether the user is over a preconfigured age,such as twenty, thirty or an age determined to be acceptable for visualverification by governmental authorities through visual verification inthe area associated with the site.

In an embodiment, at 334, the order chatbot registers the user for aloyalty account during the natural language voice dialogue.

In an embodiment, at 335, the order chatbot presents and redeems apromotion for an ordered item during the natural language voicedialogue.

According to an embodiment, at 340, the order chatbot dynamicallyswitches or dynamically migrates all or portions of the natural languagevoice dialogue from the terminal to a user-operated device 140associated with the user based upon a voice request made by the userduring the natural language voice dialogue or based upon a contentassociated with a response being provided by the order chatbot duringthe natural language voice dialogue.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another method 400 for voice-based transactionterminal order processing according to an example embodiment. Thesoftware module(s) that implements the method 400 is referred to as a“speech-based order manager.” The speech-based order manager isimplemented as executable instructions programmed and residing withinmemory and/or a non-transitory computer-readable (processor-readable)storage medium and executed by one or more processors of a device. Theprocessors that execute the speech-based order manager are specificallyconfigured and programmed to process the speech-based order manager. Thespeech-based order manager may have access to one or more networkconnections during its processing. The network connections can be wired,wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, the device that execute the speech-based order manageris the server 120. In an embodiment, the server 120 is a cloudprocessing environment, a LAN server, or a WAN server.

In an embodiment, the speech-based order manager is all of or somecombination of: chatbot 123, transaction manager 124, loyalty manager125, promotion engine 126, fulfilment manager 127, and/or the method300.

The speech-based order manager presents another and, in some ways,enhanced processing perspective of the method 300.

At 410, the speech-based order manager detects a consumer at atransaction terminal while the consumer is conducting a transaction onthe transaction terminal.

In an embodiment, at 411, the speech-based order manager detects theconsumer when a payment card is entered into a fuel pump terminal. Thefuel pump terminal including a card reader for reading the card eitherthrough contactless card reading or contact-based card reading. The cardinformation may also be entered through a keypad of the fuel pumpterminal or a touch screen display of the fuel pump terminal. The fuelpump terminal is the transaction terminal.

At 420, the speech-based order manager configures a natural languagevoice ordering session with item inventory for items available at astore associated with the transaction terminal.

In an embodiment of 411 and 420, at 421, the speech-based order manageraccessed a loyalty account of the consumer using payment cardinformation provided by the fuel pump terminal and configures thenatural language voice session with ordering preferences obtained fromthe loyalty account.

At 430, the speech-based order manager engages the consumer during thenatural language voice ordering session to order specific items usingthe item inventory.

In an embodiment of 421 and 430, at 431, the speech-based order managerdiscovers a promotion available from the store based on at least one ofthe specific items that the consumer is purchasing. The speech-basedorder manager verbally communicates the promotion to the consumer duringthe natural language voice ordering session (430) and redeems thepromotion for that item.

In an embodiment, at 432, the speech-based order manager verballycommunicates a location for pickup of the specific items and a time thatthe specific item can be or is available for pickup at the locationduring the natural language voice ordering session (430).

At 440, the speech-based order manager sends order details for thespecific items to a fulfilment service 151 of the store.

At 450, the speech-based order manager processes a payment for thespecific items that were order during the natural language voiceordering session.

In an embodiment, at 451, the speech-based order manager performs one ofwhen processing the payment: 1) verbally requests that the consumerre-present a payment card that was already presented for purchase offuel at the transaction terminal at a start of the transaction for thepayment; 2) process the payment with a different payment mechanism basedon preferences associated with the consumer; or 3) processes the paymentwith verbally communicated payment information provided by the consumerduring the natural language voice ordering session.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a system 500 for voice-based transaction terminalorder processing, according to an example embodiment. The system 500includes a variety of hardware components and software components. Thesoftware components of the system 500 are programmed and reside withinmemory and/or a non-transitory computer-readable medium and execute onone or more processors of the system 500. The system 500 communicatesover one or more networks, which can be wired, wireless, or acombination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, the system 500 implements, inter alia, the processingdescribed above with the FIGS. 1-4.

The system 500 includes: a server 510 having a processor 511 andnon-transitory computer-readable storage media 502 having executableinstructions representing a transaction chatbot 513. The system 500 alsoincludes transaction terminal 520 having a transaction processor and atransaction non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includingexecutable instructions representing a transaction interface 521.

In an embodiment, server 510 is server 120. In an embodiment, server 120is a cloud-based server, a LAN-based server, or a WAN-based server.

In an embodiment, terminal 520 is terminal 110. In an embodiment,terminal 110 is a SST, a kiosk, an ATM, or a fuel pump (as discussed inthe FIG. 2).

In an embodiment, transaction chatbot 513 is all or some combination ofthe chatbot 123, transaction manager 123, loyalty manager 125, promotionengine 126, fulfilment manager 127, the processing discussed in the FIG.2, the method 200, and/or the method 300.

In an embodiment, transaction interface 521 is transaction interface111.

The transaction chatbot 513 when executed by the processor 511 from thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium 513 causes the processor511 to: 1) interact with the transaction interface 521 and thetransaction terminal 520 to identify a consumer performing a transactionon the transaction terminal 520; 2) obtain preferences from an accountof the consumer with the store and store item inventory and item pricinginformation for items of a store associated with the transactionterminal 520; 3) initiate a natural-language voice session with theconsumer while at the transaction terminal 520 and during thetransaction using the preferences and the store item inventory and itempricing information as a localized and personalized knowledge store forthe natural-language voice session; and 4) perform a voice directedorder and purchase of specific items during the natural-language voicesession on behalf of the consumer and the store;

Transaction interface 521 when executed by terminal processor fromterminal non-transitory computer-readable storage medium causes theterminal processor to: 1) interact with the transaction chatbot 513during the natural-language voice session; and 2) present a text-basedrepresentation of the natural-language voice session as feedback on adisplay of the transaction terminal 520 based on text data andinstructions provided by the transaction chatbot 513.

In an embodiment, the transaction chatbot 513 when executed by theprocessor 511 from the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium512 is further configured to cause the processor 511 to: 1) verballycommunicate and redeem promotions provided by the store during thenatural language voice session with the consumer; and 2) dynamicallycommunicate portions of the natural language voice session to aconsumer-operated device. In an embodiment, the portions are informationcommunicated as text only to the consumer-operated device provided as asecurity measure for the text to the consumer during the naturallanguage voice session.

It should be appreciated that where software is described in aparticular form (such as a component or module) this is merely to aidunderstanding and is not intended to limit how software that implementsthose functions may be architected or structured. For example, modulesare illustrated as separate modules, but may be implemented ashomogenous code, as individual components, some, but not all of thesemodules may be combined, or the functions may be implemented in softwarestructured in any other convenient manner.

Furthermore, although the software modules are illustrated as executingon one piece of hardware, the software may be distributed over multipleprocessors or in any other convenient manner.

The above description is illustrative, and not restrictive. Many otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description. The scope of embodiments should therefore bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In the foregoing description of the embodiments, various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting that the claimed embodiments have more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Description of the Embodiments, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate exemplary embodiment.

1. A method, comprising: identifying a user at a terminal; obtaininformation associated with the terminal; and initiating a naturallanguage voice dialogue with the user while the user is located at theterminal.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying further includesidentifying the user when the user initiates a transaction on theterminal.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying further includesidentifying the user based on loyalty information provided by the userto the terminal.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying furtherincludes identifying the user based on detecting of a presence of theuser at the terminal.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifyingfurther includes obtaining dialogue preferences from a registeredaccount associated with the user.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinobtaining further includes obtaining the information as item inventoryassociated with a store where the terminal is located, promotionsassociated with the item inventory, and images of the user captured bycameras proximate to or integrated within the terminal.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein initiating further includes using the preferences andthe information as a localized and personalized knowledge store duringthe natural language voice dialogue.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinusing further includes taking an order for one or more items availableat the store during the natural language voice dialogue from the userand sending order information to a fulfilment service for orderfulfilment at the store.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein takingfurther includes performing age-based verification on the user utilizingan image taken of: 1) a photo identification card presented by the userto a camera proximate to the terminal, integrated into the terminal, orintegrated into a user-operated mobile device or 2) a user photo of theuser by the camera.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein initiatingfurther includes registering the user for a loyalty account during thenatural language voice dialogue.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereininitiating further includes presenting and redeeming a promotion for anorder item during the natural language voice dialogue.
 12. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising, dynamically switching or dynamicallymigrating all or portions of the natural language voice dialogue fromthe terminal to a user-operated device associated with the user uponvoice request made by the user during the natural language voicedialogue.
 13. A method, comprising: detecting a consumer at atransaction terminal while the consumer is conducting a transaction onthe transaction terminal; configuring a natural language voice orderingsession with item inventory for items available at a store associatedwith the transaction terminal; engaging the consumer during the naturallanguage voice ordering session to order specific items using the iteminventory; sending order details for the specific items to a fulfilmentservice of the store; and processing a payment for the specific itemsduring the natural language voice ordering session.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein detecting further includes detecting the consumer whena payment card is entered into a fuel pump terminal, wherein the fuelpump terminal is the transaction terminal.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein configuring further includes accessing a loyalty account of theconsumer using payment card information provided by the fuel pumpterminal and configuring the natural language voice ordering sessionwith ordering preferences obtained from the loyalty account.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein engaging further includes discovering apromotion available from the store based on at least one of the specificitems, verbally communicating the promotion to the consumer during theengaging and redeeming the promotion for the at least one of thespecific items.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein sending furtherincludes verbally communicating a location for pickup of the specificitems and a time that the specific items can be picked up at thelocation during the engaging.
 18. The method of claim 13, whereinprocessing further includes one of: 1) verbally requesting that theconsumer re-present a payment card that was already presented forpurchase of fuel at the transaction terminal at a start of thetransaction for the payment, 2) processing the payment with a differentpayment mechanism based on preferences associated with the consumer, or3) processing the payment with verbally communicated payment informationprovided by the consumer.
 19. A system, comprising: a server comprisinga processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingexecutable instructions representing a transaction chatbot; atransaction terminal comprising a terminal processor and a terminalnon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having executableinstructions representing a transaction interface; the transactionchatbot when executed by the processor from the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium is configured to cause the processorto: interact with the transaction interface and the transaction terminalto identify a consumer performing a transaction on the transactionterminal; obtain preferences from an account of the consumer with thestore and store item inventory and item pricing information for items ofa store associated with the transaction terminal; initiate anatural-language voice session with the consumer while at thetransaction terminal and during the transaction using the preferencesand the store item inventory and item pricing information as a localizedand personalized knowledge store for the natural-language voice session;and perform a voice directed order and purchase of specific items duringthe natural-language voice session on behalf of the consumer and thestore; the transaction interface when executed by the transactionprocessor from the transaction non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium is configured to cause the transaction processor to: interactwith the transaction chatbot during the natural-language voice session;and present a text-based representation of the natural-language voicesession as feedback on a display of the transaction terminal based ontext data and instructions provided by the transaction chatbot.
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, the transaction chatbot when executed by theprocessor from the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium isfurther configured to cause the processor to: verbally communicate andredeem promotions provided by the store during the natural languagevoice session with the consumer; and dynamically communicate portions ofthe natural language voice session to a consumer-operated device.